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Domitar-class Battle-Automata
The Domitar-class Battle-Automata was the ultimate Battle-Automata to enter production among the Forge Worlds of the Mechanicum before the terrible events of the Horus Heresy and the Schism of Mars tore the Imperium asunder in the early 31st Millennium. Considered by many savants to be the pinnacle of Martian ingenuity and Imperial Battle-Automata technology, a Domitar is a towering robot, nearly twice the size of the more widespread ''Castellax'' and a feared sight on the battlefields of the 32nd Millennium. As with so many other sophisticated technologies from this period, the Imperium of Man and the Martian Priesthood of the late 41st Millennium have sadly lost the knowledge required to create such powerful engines of destruction. History , from which the Domitar-class was derived]] At a fundamental level, the Domitar-class Battle-Automata is derived from the much more ancient ''Conqueror''-class, whose construction plans were safeguarded inside one of the incredibly rare STC databases discovered by the Mechanicum. Following the initial launch of the Great Crusade and encounters with new and terrifying species of xenos, the Mechanicum recognised that it would need a new type of Battle-Automata for its most militant arm, the Ordo Reductor, to successfully face these threats. However, development of an entirely new warmachine takes time, and as politics go, the Martian Priesthood spent several standard years arguing which forge-fanes would be tasked with the arduous but glorious task of developing this new Battle-Automata. The requirements that would lead to the creation of the Domitar Pattern were quite specific: the new Battle-Automata had to be fast, enduring and well-armed, as its designated tactical role was that of a line-breaker. The Domitar's slow evolution was further delayed when the isolated Forge World of Xana II -- located at the very edge of the Segmentum Pacificus -- submitted another design able to fulfill the same battlefield role as the intended Domitar -- the ''Arlatax''-class Battle-Automata. Loathe to see so many standard years of research and development go to waste, the Martian Priesthood chose to continue development of the Domitar and refused its benediction to the Arlatax-design, which may well have constituted one of the many reasons Xana II chose to join the Warmaster Horus' camp once the civil wars of the Horus Heresy erupted. In defence of the Martian Magi, it has to be said that even at the prototype stage, the Domitar-class incorporated a new technology that made it superior to the Xanite Arlatax Pattern -- its Graviton Hammers -- which would multiply the destructive force of each of the Domitar's blows. This weapon allowed the Domitar to crash into enemy lines with shattering force, capable of pulverising battle tanks and -- as the wars of the Horus Heresy would show -- even Legiones Astartes Dreadnoughts. To add to the Domitar's durability, its chassis was further shock-protected and enhanced with the addition of a built-in Missile Launcher whose variable payload provided the Domitar a modicum of polyvalence. Satisfying in every regard, the construction templates of the Domitar-class Battle-Automata were distributed to many of the Forge Worlds loyal to Mars, and the Domitar's mass-production began during the the 10th century of the 30th Millennium. Wargear *'Missile Launcher' - The Domitar's Missile Launcher can be equipped with a variety of different types of missiles, but having been developed for use within the Ordo Reductor, the Domitar replaced its usual fragmentation ammunition with Ignis-Frag Missiles, an ordnance combining fragmentation casings and a powerful incendiary core which ignites upon exposure to oxygen. These warheads were especially designed to clear out Ork dens. *'2 Graviton Hammers'- A Graviton Hammer is a miniaturised version of the powerful Graviton Ram used by the ''Thanatar-Calix'' Siege-Automata. A Graviton Hammer used cascading waves of gravity to multiply the kinetic and disruptive force of every physical blow. Equipped with two Graviton Hammers, the Domitar was capable of pulverising flesh and easily shattering the thickest armour. *'Atomantic Shielding'- Certain Battle-Automata featured particularly powerful Atomantic Reactor cores designed to energise defensive field generators built into the Battle-Automata's exterior armour plating, as well as power its combat systems. *'Searchlight (Optional upgrade)' *'Frag Grenades (Optional upgrade)' *'Flakk Missiles (Optional upgrade)' Notable Variants Legion]] *''Domitar Ferrum'' Pattern - The Domitar Ferrum Pattern was a notable evolution of the initial Domitar-class that saw exclusive use within the ranks of the Iron Warriors Legion. Following the Battle of Phall, when the flagship of the IV Legion, the Iron Blood, came under attack by the Imperial Fists and a kill-squad actually managed to break through and threaten the Primarch Perturabo, the Lord of the Iron Warriors modified six Domitar-class Battle-Automata to form his personal Honour Guard, which quickly earned the moniker of the "Iron Circle." The Domitar-Ferrum Pattern had been thoroughly modified by the hands of the Primarch himself and incorporated many technologies not available to the Mechanicum. For instance, the Domitar-Ferrum replaced its built-in Missile Launcher with a shoulder-mounted Olympia Bolt Cannon, a weapon believed to have been developed by Perturabo from the ''Castellax''-class Battle-Automata's Mauler Pattern Bolt Cannon. More importantly, being intended for use as untiring and ever vigilant bodyguards for the Primarch himself, the Ferrum Pattern eschewed the use of both its Graviton Hammers for a single Graviton Maul and a great Karceri Battle Shield, a massive Storm Shield adapted to the colossal size of the Domitar-Ferrum. Throughout the wars of the Horus Heresy, Pertuarbo steadily modified a great quantity of Battle-Automata, so that maniples of the Domitar-Ferrum could readily be encountered across several battlefields, the towering robots acting as protectors and executioners of the Primarch's will. Sources *''The Horus Heresy - Book Five: Tempest'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 227 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 274 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 177 *''The Horus Heresy - Legiones Astartes: Age of Darkness Legions'', pp. 22-23 *[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-EU/Mechanicum-Domitar-Battle-automata Forge World - Mechanicum Domitar Battle-Automata] *[https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-EU/Iron-Circle-Domitar-Ferrum-Battle-automata Forge World - Iron Circle Domitar-Ferrum Battle-Automata] Gallery Zhao-Arkad_Domitar Robot.png|Mechanicum Taghmata Kiarii Domitar-class Battle-Automata of the Forge World of Zhao-Arkhad Category:D Category:Adeptus Mechanicus Category:Dark Mechanicus Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperial Technology Category:Imperial weapons Category:Iron Warriors Category:Robots